OB Rag

By Geoff Page

The future of the Ocean Beach Library was the single topic at the OB Planning Board’s regular monthly meeting Wednesday September 7. That future was moved a step closer when the board voted to approve a specific concept for the future library that will move the design and permitting process along.

The meeting was held at the New Break church on Ebers St. where the city of San Diego made a presentation titled “Ocean Beach Library Expansion Survey Results.”

By David Helvarg / Los Angeles Times / Sept. 6, 2022

Two years ago the sky above my San Francisco Bay Area home was a dark pumpkin orange from wildfire smoke. The air smelled of wood fire, and gray ash covered my car. Today the bay’s waters are dark brown from a harmful algal bloom and the air smells of decay and dead fish. Both incidents, like the heat dome California’s been suffering under since last week,

The state of California has notified the city of San Diego that Mayor Todd Gloria’s pick of Midway Rising to redevelop the sports arena area is legal.

David Zisser, the assistant deputy director of California’s Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), has informed the city by letter that San Diego has up to now “successfully completed all applicable requirements” of the Surplus Land Act,

The San Diego Chapter of the American Institute of Architects has issued a blistering critique of the design process for OB’s new, expanded library. The new design will be on display at tonight’s OB Planning Board meeting.

In undated letters to Mayor Gloria, Councilmember Campbell, and other officials, the architects claimed there was a “flawed design process and substandard outcome” for the new plans, and that “The community deserves better; it deserves well-designed civic assets that will endure the test of time.”

Ocean Beach Historical Society Presents

Richard Carrico – “Peeling Back 10,000 Years of San Diego History”

Thursday, September 15, 2022, 7:00 pm
Water’s Edge Faith Community
1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd., San Diego
Cost: FREE

by Ernie McCray

I was just thinking
if I had stolen
a bunch of classified
U.S. documents
and hid them in my basement
and the FBI had to come and get them,
and I had the nerve
to ask for a
“Special Master Review”
of some kind

“Midway Rising” — the redevelopment group chosen by Mayor Gloria for the Sports Arena area — is owned by one of his largest political contributors.

The group is represented by principal Brad Termini of Zephyr Development. He and his wife, Stefanie, were the two largest contributors to a special campaign committee created solely to support Todd Gloria’s campaign for Mayor in the 2020 election. Brad and Stefanie Termini donated $100,000

Dog Beach in OB was closed for three days earlier this month due to a sewer spill that occurred up the San Diego River.

It turns out there was a sewage spill into the river from a storm water drain coming from Mission Hills. It not only caused an unusually strong stench but is likely the reason water in the area turned a milky color.

A public works spokesperson told CBS 8 the sewage seep “was caused by roots in the line causing 10,800 gallons of sewage to spill,” of which 4,000 gallons were recovered. But still Dog Beach had to be closed due to high bacterial counts. But it wasn’t the city that discovered the spill.

Progressive voters in San Diego’s City Council District 2 are in a dilemma. There are at least two items on November’s ballot that are throwing them in a quandary.

Who to vote for in the council seat and what to do about Measure C, the proposed elimination of the 30-foot height limit in the Midway. …

Obviously, Jen Campbell, the incumbent, is running for her second term for D2. But, many of her constituents are fed up with her.

Sunrise in OB, for a change, by Mike James, Sept. 4, 2022

The results of a survey taken by the city on the OB Library expansion plans is Action Item #1 on the agenda of the OB Planning Board meeting, Wednesday night at Newbreak Church.

The board will review the results – including feedback and the final design — and will take some kind of action on whether to approve the proposed design.

Meeting at 6 pm, the board will take their seats inside Newbreak Church at 2069 Ebers Street in OB. Come inside for the agenda.

by Ernie McCray

15 presidents have served our country
during my lifetime,
all of them affecting me
in some way,
beginning with Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
FDR,
a man who gave me a sense,
even in my childhood innocence
that a president
was kind of important
as I listened to grownups rave
about the role he played